World Cup Results 2014: Tracking Final Scores, Golden Boot Contenders for Day 24

The World Cup may have lost one of its brightest stars to injury Friday when Neymar broke his vertebra, but soccer fans still get to watch the brilliance of Lionel Messi after his Argentina side knocked off Belgium 1-0.

Elsewhere, Netherlands won in nerve-wracking fashion in penalty shootouts against underdog Costa Rica after playing 120 minutes of scoreless soccer.

Argentina and Netherlands joined Germany and Brazil in the semifinals. Here is a look at Saturday’s results and an update on the Golden Boot race.

World Cup Quarterfinal Saturday Results

Team 1

Result

Team 2

Argentina

1-0

Belgium

Netherlands

0(4) - 0(3)

Costa Rica

FIFA.com

World Cup Goal Scorers

Player

Country

Goals

James Rodriguez

Colombia

6

Neymar

Brazil

4

Lionel Messi

Argentina

4

Thomas Muller

Germany

4

Karim Benzema

France

3

Enner Valencia

Ecuador

3

Arjen Robben

Netherlands

3

Robin van Persie

Netherlands

3

Xherdan Shaqiri

Switzerland

3

Jackson Martinez

Colombia

2

Gervinho

Ivory Coast

2

Luis Suarez

Uruguay

2

Tim Cahill

Australia

2

Mario Mandzukic

Croatia

2

Ahmed Musa

Nigeria

2

Andre Ayew

Ghana

2

Clint Dempsey

United States

2

Memphis Depay

Netherlands

2

Ivan Perisic

Croatia

2

Wilfried Bony

Ivory Coast

2

Asamoah Gyan

Ghana

2

Islam Slimani

Algeria

2

Alexis Sanchez

Chile

2

Bryan Ruiz

Costa Rica

2

Mats Hummels

Germany

2

Abdelmoumene Djabou

Algeria

2

David Luiz

Brazil

2

Angel Di Maria

Argentina

1

Kevin De Bruyne

Belgium

1

Romelu Lukaku

Belgium

1

Julian Green

United States

1

Thiago Silva

Brazil

1

Avdija Vrsajevic

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1

Reza Ghoochannejhad

Iran

1

Marcos Rojo

Argentina

1

Juan Cuadrado

Colombia

1

Andreas Samaris

Greece

1

Georgios Samaras

Greece

1

Diego Godin

Uruguay

1

Blaise Matuidi

France

1

Mathieu Valbuena

France

1

Moussa Sissoko

France

1

Blerim Dzemaili

Switzerland

1

Granit Xhaka

Switzerland

1

Wayne Rooney

England

1

Juan Quintero

Colombia

1

Ivica Olic

Croatia

1

Mile Jedinak

Australia

1

Eduardo Vargas

Chile

1

Charles Aranguiz

Chile

1

Sofiane Feghouli

Iran

1

Marouane Fellaini

Belgium

1

Dries Mertens

Belgium

1

Lee Keun-Ho

South Korea

1

Alexander Kerzhakov

Russia

1

Mario Balotelli

Italy

1

Claudio Marchisio

Italy

1

Daniel Sturridge

England

1

Edinson Cavani

Uruguay

1

Joel Campbell

Costa Rica

1

Oscar Duarte

Costa Rica

1

Marcos Urena

Costa Rica

1

Pablo Armero

Colombia

1

Teofilo Gutierrez

Colombia

1

Stefan de Vrij

Netherlands

1

Xabi Alonso

Spain

1

Oscar

Brazil

1

Oribe Peralta

Mexico

1

Jorge Valdívia

Chile

1

Jean Beausejour

Chile

1

Keisuke Honda

Japan

1

Admir Mehmedi

Switzerland

1

Haris Seferovic

Switzerland

1

Carlo Costly

Honduras

1

Vedad Ibisevic

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1

Olivier Giroud

France

1

John Anthony Brooks

United States

1

Mario Gotze

Germany

1

Miroslav Klose

Germany

1

Edin Dzeko

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1

Peter Odemwingie

Nigeria

1

Divock Origi

Belgium

1

Miralem Pjanic

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1

Rafik Halliche

Algeria

1

Son Heung Min

South Korea

1

Yacine Brahimi

Algeria

1

Koo Jacheol

South Korea

1

Nani

Portugal

1

Jermaine Jones

United States

1

Silvestre Varela

Portugal

1

David Villa

Spain

1

Fernando Torres

Spain

1

Juan Mata

Spain

1

Leroy Fer

Netherlands

1

Rafael Marquez

Mexico

1

Andres Guardado

Mexico

1

Javier Hernandez

Mexico

1

Joel Matip

Cameroon

1

Fred

Brazil

1

Fernandinho

Brazil

1

Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal

1

Aleksandr Kokorin

Russia

1

Jan Vertonghen

Belgium

1

Giovani dos Santos

Mexico

1

Wesley Sneijder

Netherlands

1

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Netherlands

1

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Greece

1

Paul Pogba

France

1

Andre Schurrle

Germany

1

Mesut Ozil

Germany

1

Gonzalo Higuain

Argentina

1

Saturday Goal Scorers Highlighted

Argentina 1, Belgium 0

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

In what has been something of a theme throughout this World Cup, Argentina wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in Saturday’s match.

Gonzalo Higuain happened to be in the right place at the right time after a deflection, and he buried the initial goal in the back of the net with a strike from the top of the penalty box. It was just the type of start Argentina was looking for after their nerve-wracking defensive slugfest against Switzerland.

Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press

Argentina controlled the pace for the rest of the first half and pushed back any Belgium advances. However, ESPN Stats & Info noted that the 1-0 deficit was right where Belgium wanted the game to be if their recent history was any indication:

Argentina almost buried a decisive second goal off the foot of Higuain early in the second half, but as Squawka Football pointed out, the sidelines were more entertaining than the actual game in the aftermath:

The fact that the Argentina attack throughout much of the contest was more than just Messi underscored the comments manager Alejandro Sabella made before the match, via Dominic Fifield of The Guardian:

Four years ago Messi was criticised for not contributing enough, and now people say we depend too greatly upon him. It’s not easy. Any team who has a player like Messi in their ranks – he’s the best player in the world – will greatly depend upon him, as a player. But there’s a group of players who support Messi, who make him stronger and make him feel well. I believe that the fact he’s done what he has here is down to the work the team puts in.

Belgium certainly threatened in the final few minutes and made the Argentina supporters a bit uncomfortable, but the victor's defense was simply too stout. There was even a moment in stoppage time for Messi on a breakaway where he was all on his own, but the superstar was turned away.

Now that Argentina is two victories away from hoisting the World Cup trophy, their health has to be taken into consideration. Angel Di Maria left the match Saturday, as Bleacher Report UK noted, and that could be a problem going forward without him as a potential goal-scorer.

Di Maria has been a critical component in Argentina’s crossing attack throughout the World Cup, and he is part of a solid combination with Messi. Argentina may need more individual brilliance from Messi or contributions from the likes of Higuain if they hope to win this tournament.

Max Bretos of ESPN pointed out that Argentina simply didn't look the same offensively after the injury:

Of course, not allowing a goal, like the squad did Saturday, would do the trick on the way to the World Cup title as well.

Netherlands Beats Costa Rica In Penalty Shootouts

Hassan Ammar/Associated Press

The Cinderella story of the World Cup came to a grinding and heartbreaking halt Saturday at the hands of the orange-clad Netherlands squad. Netherlands survived a stiff defensive test from Costa Rica in penalty shootouts in one of the most dramatic matches of the entire World Cup.

Goalkeeper Keylor Navas kept the underdog Costa Rica in the match throughout the first half and constantly turned away the Netherlands attack. Bleacher Report UK highlighted one of many formidable saves:

The game was scoreless deep into the second half, but Arjen Robben was doing his best to get Netherlands on the board, as Squawka Football pointed out:

Still, Navas continued to be a stone wall, but he got a little help from the post with only a few minutes remaining in regulation, as Bleacher Report UK noted:

That was the first of many golden opportunities for Netherlands down the stretch, but somehow, someway, they failed to find the back of the net in regulation and the game went to overtime scoreless. Costa Rica was clearly playing with their backs against the wall, but Robben and company failed to take advantage.

ESPN Stats & Info noted that the extra time wasn’t exactly a promising development for Netherlands:

It was rather clear that Costa Rica was playing for penalty kicks throughout overtime (and much of the second half to be honest) even though they had a couple opportunities late. Netherlands put a scare into the Costa Rica defense when they hit the crossbar at 118 minutes, but the game went to penalty shootouts without a single goal.

That is where Netherlands ultimately prevailed.

Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

Incredibly, Netherlands switched their goalkeepers heading into the shootout and went with Tim Krul instead of Jasper Cillessen. It paid the ultimate dividends when Krul saved two of the five shots, which was more than enough to carry his team to victory.

Netherlands will certainly need a few days off to catch their breath before the semifinals.